White Deer
White Deer White Deer - Nastiszi Megaloceros Nesariae Animal, Mammal Diet Herbivorous (Leaves, grass, ferns) Behaviour * Peaceful (mostly) * Nomadic * Communal * Cooperative * Untameable Physical Characteristics * Average Height: 1.9 metres (to shoulder) * Largest Recorded Height: 2.4 metres (to shoulder) * Average Length: 3 metres * Largest Recorded Length: 3.8 metres * Average Width: 0.6'' metres * Largest Recorded Width: 0.8 metres * Average Antler Span: 2 metres * Largest Recorded Antler Span: 2.7 metres * Average Life Expectancy: 30 years * Longest Recorded Lifespan: 40 years Description The White Deer is the only surviving member of the Megaloceros genus, persisting due to its mostly stable environment and isolation from the outside world. It is the largest extant species of deer, only slightly smaller than the now-extinct Irish Elk (''Megaloceros Giganticus). Although they are called "white", the fur of the White Deer is silver-coloured, with random patches of lighter and darker colour. It is theorised that this camouflage is to break up the outline of the deer and confuse predators at a distance, and while it makes the deer more conspicuous at daytime, it provides good camouflage at night and makes it almost invisible in fog. White Deer are able to survive comfortably in a wide range of environments, such as steppe, highlands, plains and forest, although they have trouble in the denser forests simply because of their size. They are essentially able to digest anything green, so the wide variation of flora between these environments is not a problem for them. White Deer roam in herds of 10-40 animals, usually with the young on the inside of the herd, the smaller females surrounding them and the larger males surrounding the whole herd. Males will often also detach from the herd and walk a short distance away, acting as an early warning system for predators, and a way to delay them so that the herd can prepare to defend itself. White Deer are normally passive to other creatures that they know pose no threat. They are wary of hominids, but over time can come to accept individuals (not a whole species). This changes when the females are pregnant or when there are very young deer in the herd, and the males become hyper-aggressive, charging any creature that ignores their warning bellows. A charging White Deer male is extremely difficult to stop, even with modern automatic firearms, and few people survive a head-on charge. White Deers will usually fight to the death to defend their mates and their young. White Deer are also one of the few species known to hold grudges; if a member of the herd is killed and the rest of the herd saw who did it, they will remember the killer and immediately try to take revenge upon seeing them again. Although its historicity is disputed, there is a tale of a White Deer following an Estemorian hunter that killed its mate for several hundred miles until finally reaching him and killing him just as he woke from sleep by stomping on his skull. It is therefore very important for White Deer hunters to take every measure to remain stealthy and to disguise themselves, changing their disguise on each hunting trip. As Food The meat of White Deer has the texture of venison and a taste similar to beef. It is very lean, so fat is usually added when grinding the meat into a burger. White Deer meat is popular in Estemoria and Nesaria (particularly the north) but less popular in Avamoria. White Deer meat is also exported to other Imperial countries and around the globe, the biggest importer in the Empire being Draconia and the biggest international importer being Iran. Conservation The White Deer is not threatened. The vast majority of them live on hunting reserves in rural areas, although there are still a few wild herds in Estemoria. There are no regulations on hunting privately owned White Deer, as these are regulated by the owners anyway, but hunting wild White Deer is banned unless a cull is necessary.